Several nominations expected for surprise presidential election
CMAJ 1998;159:435
© 1998 Canadian Medical Association
Delegates attending this month's CMA annual meeting in Whitehorse, who were already facing major decisions surrounding the access-to-care issue and the CMA's physicians' charter and privacy code, have been given another big job. Following the mid-August resignation of Dr. Allon Reddoch as president-elect, the 220 General Council delegates will also be charged with selecting the CMA's leader for the next year.
Reddoch, who resigned for personal reasons, had been tabbed as the next president during last year's annual meeting in Victoria. The Whitehorse family physician has been heavily involved with the CMA for almost 2 decades, and spent 11 years as president of the Yukon Medical Association.
This type of situation is provided for in the CMA bylaws. Section 12.3(f) states that nominations for the presidency can be submitted in writing by any division or by any 50 members of the association. These are then considered by the Committee on Nominations. Nominations are also permitted from the floor of General Council.
Several physicians were expected to contest the post, which will be filled following a secret ballot by General Council delegates on Sept. 8. The winner will then assume the presidency until the August 1999 meeting in Ottawa.
Even without the election, General Council had plenty on its plate. The CMA Charter for Physicians, 2 years in the making, will receive final consideration during the Whitehorse meeting. Some physicians consider it a manifesto for professional freedom. "This charter defines [physicians'] rights and may be used as a benchmark for physicians when [their] essential freedoms are threatened or denied," observed Dr. Dan MacCarthy of British Columbia, vice-chair of the CMA's Political Action Committee.
Delegates will also debate a privacy code that received final approval from the Board of Directors in August. The code, which deals with the many issues surrounding patient privacy, was created with broad input from outside bodies, and has received extravagant praise from Bruce Phillips, Canada's privacy commissioner.
The final issue, access to care, may receive the most attention because Allan Rock will address the meeting. At last year's annual meeting the federal health minister challenged the CMA to provide evidence of a crisis within health care. In June, the CMA responded by presenting him with 5 binders of information chronicling the problems being experienced from coast to coast. However, its main effort on the access front is a wide-ranging project aimed at devising scientifically rigorous ways to identify and assess access problems within the health care system.
The CMA wants Rock to leave Whitehorse with a simple message for the federal cabinet: make health care the focus of the 1999 budget next February.
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